It was eventually halted when police deployed the stinger in Small Heath.

A 28-year-old man was arrested and remains in police custody on suspicion of vehicle theft, dangerous driving, refusing to take a breath test, driving while disqualified, and failing to stop for officers.

West Midlands Police incident manager Chief Insp Simon Pemberton said: “It’s not often our officers are called to pursue a milk van.

Chase: The milk van was spotted being driven the wrong way down the A45 (Image: PA)

“The van was being driven very erratically and dangerously, at times on the wrong side of major A-roads, so a decision was taken to deflate its tyres with a ‘stinger’.

“Even when the milk van was boxed in down a cul-de-sac the driver was revving his engine aggressively and shunted into one of the police cars.

“Our officers managed to bring the pursuit to a successful conclusion – no other vehicles were damaged and no other members of the public were hurt.”